1. Field of the Invention
A cargo loading system that saves time staging and loading air freight.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In ordinary circumstances, most if not all of the freight arriving on a particular aircraft will be prepacked on pallets, the size and shape of which may vary depending upon the particular aircraft and the designated fuselage location thereof. Traditional unit load devices require high vertical clearances in the cargo building to provide random access to each pallet via an elevated transfer vehicle (ETV). A storage system utilizing an ETV takes considerable time to place the pallet in storage and an equal amount of time to retrieve and place the pallet on a transporter or dolly. If using dollies, the cargo is then staged on the ramp to await the arrival of the aircraft.
Loading of freight is typically accomplished, after the aircraft arrives, by positioning a K loader adjacent the aircraft door to commence the process. The conventional method of unloading aircraft moves two pallets to a K loader (mobile equipment powered by a diesel engine) and having a two pallet position at the aircraft door. Another two pallet position is outboard of the position of the aircraft door and elevates from the dolly level to the aircraft deck by means of a scissors lift to be lowered to the dolly level in approximately five minutes. If all thirty pallets are unloaded, the procedure takes approximately one hour and fifteen minutes. Loading the aircraft (reverse procedure) takes approximately the same amount of time, a total of two and one half hours.
As economic globalization increases the amount of freight carried by aircraft, the number of cargo aircraft parking positions required also increases to allow for additional freight, or, cargo storage space. Costs associated with acquiring space adjacent airports, typically near cities in developed countries, to accommodate the need for more cargo storage space is typically very high.
What is thus desired is to provide a freight loading/unloading system which saves time staging and loading and unloading air freight and also reduces the airport land area required to accommodate the expected large increases in air freight.